Apparatus for manufacturing flour.



No. 726,172. PATEN'TED APR. '21, 1903.

' L. KORAB.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOUR. APPLICATION FILED Ant-a1, 1902.

no MODEL. I I 5 sums-5111:111- 2;

I A. HZ, 9 2 y 1 I I 4 PATENTED APR. 21, 1903.

L. K0RAB.' APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOUR.

APPLICATION IIL ED ARR. 21, 1902.

I 6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

no MODEL.

THE Norms PETERS 00., worournou WASNINGTQN. o. c.

No. 726,172. I'PATENTED APR. 21, 1903. l L. KORAB. APPARATUS FORMANUFAGTURING FLOUR.-

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1902. N0 MODEL. 6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

No.'726, 7 2. PATENTED APR. 21, 19 03.

- LLKQB'AB.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOUR.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1902. N0 MODEL. I 6 BHEETS-SHEET 6.

UNIT D STAT S PATE T FFICE.

LUDVI-QKORAB, or RENvI'L LE,"MINNESOTA.

AP ARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOUR.

sPEcIFicA'r IoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 726172, dated April 21, 1903.

. Application filed April 21, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDVIG KORAB,a sub{ ject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary,residing at Renville, in the county of- Renville and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Manufacturing Flour, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for the manufacture of flour, and has for its object the production of an apparatus wherein the products of a number of independent reduction-mills are received and separately and independently treated and all the apparatus.

operated from one source of power.

Another object of the invention is the production of an apparatus wherein the fine flour is separated from the coarse material and refuse in one portion of the apparatus by gravity and the valuable particles of this coarser material separated from the refuse in a separate and independent apparatus by the combined action of'gravity and induced air-currents.

Further objects of the invention will appear in the description following and be specifically pointed out in the claims.

The apparatus herein shown comprises a series of superimposed sieve-boxes arranged in pairs, the lower box of each pair mounted upon ball-bearings disposed to operate longitudinally of the casing and the upper sievebox of each pair supported upon its companion lower box by ball-bearings disposed to operate transversely of the lower box and with means for imparting a gyratory motion independently to the upper boxes and a longitudinal vibratory movement to the lower sieveboxes. Each box will be divided into separate independent compartments each containing anindependent system of separatingscreens and chutes "and each adapted to re ceive the product of separate independent reduction-mills. The upperb'oxes are designed to separate the fine flour'from' the coarser material by gravity only, while the lower boxes are designed to receive this coarser material from the upper boxes and separate the valuable particles from the refuse by the combined action of gravity and induced air-currents.

All of the various steps required to separate the fine flour, the difierent grades of fa- Serial No- 103.997. (No model.)

.rin'a and middlings, the bran, and other valuable particles, as well as the refuse, are accom plished in this one machine and from one single source of power, which machine by its peculiar constructio'n and arrangement of parts is so extremely siinp-le and compact that a mill of very large capacitycan be erected in a comparatively small area and operated by a comparatively snfitll power.

clearly shown in the drawings, in which-- Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus, showing the lower sieve-boxes in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof with the top sieve-boxes shown in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, on the line XX of Fig. 2, of one of the upper boxes. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of one of the upper boxes. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the screen-cleaning brushes employed on the screens of the upper boxes. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of one of the lower boxes on the line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan View of one of the lower boxes. Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the brushes employed on the screens of the lower boxes. Fig. 9 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification in the construction. Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the upper box shown in the modified form in Fig. 9.

Each pair of sieve-boxes being exactly alike, like characters are employed to designate corresponding partsin each. The upperboxes are designated by 10 and the lower boxes by 11. Two pairs of the boxes are shown and each box divided into four compartments by transverse partitions 12 and 13 and longitudinal partitions 12 and 13"; but a greater or lesser number of pairs of sieve-boxes may be employed and each box maybe divided into a greaterorlessernumberofthe compartments, according to the capacity of the mill required. Each compartment in each upper box will have its corresponding or companion compartment in its corresponding or companion lower box. The boxes will be arranged, preferably, one above the other, as shown, and surrounded by an inclosing framework 14 of any approved construction. Each lower box 11 will be supported upon ball bearings formed by balls 15,0peratingbetween grooved The arrangement of the mechanismis ribs or troughs 16 and 17, one set on the box ll and one set on the framework 14, and disposed longitudinally of the box at four points, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Each upper box is supported upon its companion lower box by ball-bearings formed by balls 18, operating between grooved ribs or troughs 19 20, one set on the lower box 11 and the other set on the upper box and disposed transversely of the lower box or at right angles to the grooved ribs or troughs of the lower box and at four points thereon, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Supgorted vertically in the framework 14 and operating through a central cavity in the lower box 11 of the upper pair is a shaft 21, having cranks 22 23 on its ends engaging each upper box, so that the revolution of the shaft will impart a gyratory motion to the upper boxes. The upper boxes being connected to the lower boxes only by the ball-bearings interposed between them, and the bearing-troughs between the boxes being at right angles to the bearing-troughs beneath the lower boxes, and the cranks 22 23 imparting both a lateral and longitudinal strain upon the upper boxes, these lateral strains will cause the lower boxes to move upon their ball-bearings at the same time that the upper boxes move upon their ball-bearings, the result being that a compound or gyratory motion will be imparted to the upper boxes and a horizontally-vibratory motion to the lower boxes. The material upon the screens of the upper boxes will therefore be caused to move in a series of smallellipses, as hereinafter explained.

The shaft 21 is arranged to be operated from a system of counter-shafting 24 and a belt 25 and will be preferably provided with a balance-wheel 26 to insure steadiness of action.

Each of the compartments of the upper boxes will be provided with an inlet-chute 27, through which the product from the reduction-mills will be conducted to the compartments. Each compartment will thus be independently supplied from a separate reduction-mill or with a separate product from the reduction-mills. 27 will be provided with a section of flexible tubing 28, so that the gyrations of the boxes will not be imparted to the inlet-chutes or hoppers.

Each compartment of each upper box will be provided with a series ofseparati rig-screens 29 with intermediate gather-boards 30, the screens and gather-boards so arranged that all the tailings from the screens of each compartment will be conducted to a dischargespout 3l, leading from each compartment in the upper box to its companion compartment in the lower box, while the material passing through all the screens will be run together and discharged by a spout 32 outside the apparatus. The screen 29 will he graduated to separate out the fine flour which will be discharged by the outlet 32, while the coarse Each of the intake-chutes material consisting of farina,middlings,bran, shorts, &c., will be run together and discharged into the compartments in the lower boxes by the spouts 31. By this means the fine flour contained in the material received from the red notion-mills is separated out from the mass in the upper boxes, leaving nothing but the coarser material to be treated in the lower boxes. The separations in the upper boxes, as will be noted, are wholly by gravity, no induced air-currents being employed in the upper boxes. As before stated, the movement imparted to the upper boxes is a compound one, causing the material to move over the screens in small ellipses or circles, imparting to the particles a rolling motion which causes a very effectual separation of the finer from the coarser particles, with the result that the particles of the fine flour are thoroughly separated out from the coarser particles of the material and require no further treatment.

The different compartments of the lower boxes 11 are each provided with a system of screens and chutes, whereby the material received from the upper boxes is separated into its component parts. The upper screen of each of these lower compartments is represented at 34 and receives all the material passing through its respective spout 31, the tailings from the screen 34 passing to a spout 35, by which it will be discharged. Beneath the screen 34 is a reversely-inclined grooved plate 36, adapted to receive the product of the screen 34 by means of a gather-board 37, which is arranged to conduct the material passing through the screen 34 to the upper end of the grooved plate 36. The function of the grooved plate is to separate the valuable particles of farina from the coarser material by causing it to be rolled over and over, as hereinafter explained. Between the grooved plate 36 and the gather-board 37 is a windtrunk 38, having a series of apertures communicating with the space above the grooved plate and covered with a correspondinglyperforated dam per-plate 39, adapted to be 0perated from outside the box, as by a rod 40. By this means the force of the air-currents may be regulated, as hereinafter shown.

All the wind-trunks 38 of all of the compartments in each box 11 lead to a central trunk 41, communicating with a fan 42 by conductor-trunks 43, as shown. The tailings from the grooved plate 36 pass to another screen 44, and the tailings from this screen are received by a chute 45 and discharged from the machine, while the material passing through the screen 44 is caused to pass to another screen 46 by a gather-board 47. The tailings from the screen 46 pass to a dischargechute 48, while the material passing through the screen 46 is conducted by a gather-board 49 to another inclined grooved plate 50,similar to the grooved plate 36. Between the grooved plate 50 and the gather-board 49 is a windtrunk 51,sin1ilar to the wind-trunk 3S and com- IIO mun'icating, like the latter,with the maincentral trunk 41. In the bottom of the wind-trunk 51 are a series of apertures covered by a perforated damper-plate 52, adapted to be operated from outside the-casing by a rod 53, the

construction of this damper being similar tov the damper 39 and its rod 40. The tailings from the grooved plate are discharged by a spout 5&. By thisarrangement all the tailings from the several systems ,of screens in the boxes 11 are conducted by separate spouts from the boxes, while the material passing through the screens is caused to'pass to the next screen below and tothe grooved plates and be subjected to the influence of the induced air-currents while thus passing over the screens and plates. V

The material passing through the screen 34 consists of 'farina, middiings, fine particles of.

bran, and fine light dust and other finer particles of refuse, and the action of the grooved plate 36 is to cause the material to roll overv and over as it fiows over the plate. This causes the material to be thoroughly separated, the finer particles of farina falling to the bottom of the mass and the coarser and lighter particles of material rising to the top,.

where the lighter particles aresubjected to the influence of the air-currents and will be drawn off-through the damper 39 into the wind-trunk 38,.and thence out through the fan to the dust-collector, while-the tailings in the separated condition pass to the next screens 44 and 4.6, where the coarser particles are again separated out and discharged from the spouts 45 4:8 and the final product of the final screen 46 passedto the grooved plate 50, where it is again caused to roll over and over, and be thereby placed in the best condition to be subjected to the action of the air-currents through the damper 52, which separates the remaining dust and finer particles, leaving nothing but the purified material to passto the spout 54, while the groats and other coarse refuse pass to the discharge-spout 48. This is in general the operation, but may be varied as required, according to the condition and composition of the material to be treated.

By modifying the screens the apparatus.

may be adapted to separate the material into as many grades as required by increasing or decreasing the screens and adjusting them to suit thecouditions of the material. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to. any specific arrangement or number or relative location. of the screens and other parts of the appa-.

ratus employedin separating the material. Some means will be required for keeping the screens clear from being clogged, andan improved arrangement of brushes for accom-.

plishing this purpose is shown in Figs. 3, 5, 6, and 8.

The sieve-boxes 10, asbefore stated, being caused to gyrate in small ellipses orcircles require a slightly different form of brush to clean the screens therein than the brushes employed to clean the screens ofthe casings 11, which vibrate longitudinally only. In both boxes the brushes are similar, being substantially spherical and provided with cavities 56 in their heads, in which balls 57 loosely move, so that as the screens are rapidly vibrated the loose balls are caused to strike the sides of the cavities in the heads of the brushes and cause them to be thrown violently inthe opposite direction, and thus greatly increase .the brushing action.

The screens of the boxeslO will'be divided into compartments bydiagonal guard-strips 58, elevated above the surface of the screencloth to form stops to the brushes, but which will allow the material to flow beneath them,

each compartment having oneof the spherical brushes therein, as shown in Fig. 3. By this means as the screens are rapidly vibrated the brushes will be violently rolled around mass of the reduced material in the upper boxes by gravity only, thereby obviating any tendency of loss of valuable particlesby the action, and the remainder of the unseparated IOO material'separated into its component parts by the combined action of gravity and induced air-currents. By its peculiar arrangement and combination of parts an apparatus of large capacity can bethus erected and operated within a small area and with the ex-,

penditure of a comparatively small amount of power. The apparatus is thus .very economical both to build andto operate.

in reverse transverse and longitudinal relations, as shown-that is to say, the boxes 10 all lying parallel and the boxes 11 all lying parallel, but at right angles to the boxes 10,

as this arrangement provides best for the-re- Pref erably the boxes 10 and 11 will be arranged verse arrangement of theball-bearing troughs;

but I do. not wish to be limitedto this arrangement,as the boxes may all be arranged in parallel relations. .All the chutes. leading to and from the boxes, as well-as the Wind trunks from the fans will be provided with the flexible fabric joints, as shown. All the flexible joints in the conductorchutes will be providedwith wire supportinga framesto preventthem from collapsing.

Under certain circumstances itmaybe found necessary to extend. the dischargespouts 31 laterally, as shown at 31 in Figs. 9 and 10, to increase the distance which the material will be causedto travel between the upper and lower series of compartments and alsov to enable the material to be .fed into the &

lower compartments at points other than shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for the manufacture of flour, a primary and a secondary separating apparatus, runways for the latter having ballbearings upon which it has a longitudinallyreciprocatory motion, runways interposed between the primary and the secondary apparatus whereby the former has a reciprocatory motion transverse to that of the latter, a vertically-disposed shaft, and a crank upon said shaft connected with the primary separating apparatus, whereby the latter will receive a gyratory and the secondary separating apparatus a reciprocatory motion. I

2. In an apparatus for the manufacture of flour, a primary and a secondary separating apparatus, runways for the latter having ballbearings upon which it has a longitudinal reciprooatory motion, runways interposed between the primary and the secondaryapparatus,whereby the former has a reciprocatory motion transverse to that of the latter, means for dividing the primary and secondary devices into corresponding compartments, connecting means between the compartments of the primary and the secondary apparatus, and operating means whereby the primary separating apparatus will receive a gyratory, and the secondary separating apparatus a reciprocatory motion.

3. An apparatus for the manufacture of flour, comprising an upper and a lower sievebox having corresponding compartments flexrunways and interposed antifriction -balls whereby the said upper sieve-box may have a reciprocatory motion transversely to that of the lower sieve-box, a vertically-disposed drive-shaft,a counter-shaft extending through a cavity in the lower sieve-box and having a crank connection with the upper sieve-box, means for transmitting motion from said drive-shaft to the counter-shaft, whereby a gyratory motion will be imparted to said upper sieve-box and a reciprocatory motion to the lower sieve-box, and independent discharging means for the products of the screens within said sieve-boxes.

4:. In an apparatus for the manufacture of flour, a separator having a series of screens, means for imparting a compound transverse and lateral movement to said screens, diagonal dividing-ribs above said screens dividing the space above them into angular-sided compartments, brushes operating loosely in said compartments and having irregular cavities in their heads, and balls loosely disposed in said cavities, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in 

